We’re all about boosting productivity here at Kdan. Thanks to smartphones and tablets, your productivity never has to stop! We’re sharing some of our top hacks for making the most of your morning commute!
Of course, these tips are for the bus and/or subway crowd, and are not meant for anyone that drives to work! Don’t worry–these hacks work for your lunch break, a doctor’s waiting room, and more!
1. Check your new app(s), such as Flipboard
Stay up to date with the world around you! The morning commute is the perfect chance to catch up on what’s going on in your industry, or national economy, or stay up to date on other popular topics of conversation.
2. Send out contracts
Do you have something that needs to get signed in a timely manner? Why not send PDF copies of your contracts out from your bus seat so they will be waiting in your client’s or vendor’s inbox when they get to work?
3. Create a Newsletter
If you own or are part of a small business or startup, chances are your marketing team is small, so try to take work off your plate whenever possible. Luckily, mailing apps, like MailChimp and Moosend, let you construct, automate, and send email campaigns right from your phone!
4. Grow Your LinkedIn Network
One of our favorite ways to stay up to date on industry news is by using LinkedIn. Your commute into the office is a great opportunity to form professional relationships, follow industry-leading companies, and more.m
5. Create Video Content
Creating stunning videos for social media or websites isn’t limited to those with professional editing backgrounds anymore. Video-editing apps give you the power to create, edit, and publish awesome content from your mobile device.
6. Draft a Blog
One popular way to get site visits is by creating a blog. If you’ve got 15 minutes on your way to work, you can put pen to paper–or use any number of document-creating apps, like Google Docs, to type something up quickly.
7. Brainstorm
Do you have a creative project coming up? No matter what kind of awesome ideas you’ve got planned, note-taking apps let you create detailed, multimedia, brainstorming documents.
8. Respond to Emails
Far from the most exciting item on our list, responding to emails is a fairly mundane task, but can start to pile up. Chip away at it by promising yourself to respond to a couple of emails both ways on your commute!
9. Watch a Ted Talk
Looking for an engaging way to learn something new, whether it be a professional skill or a different way of thinking? Our first choice is Ted Talks.
10. Let the Creative Juices Flow
Sometimes, one of the most rejuvenating things to do is just sit down and draw. It stimulates creativity and can be quite relaxing. Animation apps let you create anything from doodles to incredible animations–no matter your artistic ability!
10. Schedule Your Social Media Content
Social media is a great marketing tool, but it can be difficult to give it your full attention. Apps and websites like Page Manager, Tweet Deck, or Buffer are some of our favorite social media scheduling tools to post on different social media platforms.
11. Save Your Receipts
If you’re on a business trip where your meals, transportation, or anything else is getting reimbursed, why leave yourself open to losing your receipt? You can scan and create digital copies of your different receipts and even let you manage them by trip or account.
12. Sign Contracts
On the flip side of hack #1, sometimes you’re on the receiving end of contracts. Take care of them before you even step foot in the office by using PDF annotating apps to sign contracts and send them out.
13. Design Themed Logos
If you’re a small business with a loyal user base, something fun to do is make special logos for different times of the year. NoteLedge, complete with seasonal stickers, is a great tool for designing fun, timely, and themed logos.
14. Review Documents and Create Summaries
Whether you’re researching for a project, studying for a test, or reviewing details of a case study, Kdan’s PDF Reader can help you organize your thoughts by letting you annotate documents, highlight text, and even create a summary of what you just reviewed.
15. Learn a New Skill
Khan Academy is another of our favorite educational resources. Khan academy uses videos, quizzes, and more to make learning something new easy and interactive.
16. Learn a New Language
In the global economy, one of the most coveted skills is understanding other cultures and languages. Duolingo is one of our top choices for learning how to speak a new language.
17. Share Information with Your Team
If you’re working on a project in a team, you’ll want to share your findings. The newly updated Markup lets you create teams within the app, and then seamlessly share photos, web clippings, PDF documents, and more within your team!
18. Design Graphics
If you don’t have a graphic design background, NoteLedge is an easy-to-use resource for creating graphic content for social media posting and more! In fact, we frequently use NoteLedge for sharing events on social media.
19. What did We Miss?
Are there any other things you do on your way to work to make the most out of your commute? Let us know in the comments!
